The Green Vanguard: N is for Nanimarquina

The Spanish manufacturer is known for pushing the boundaries of rug design, but it has also pushed sustainable design in some creative directions. Its Bicicleta rug, from 2006, was made of recycled bicycle inner tubes, and last year’s Global Warming collection depicted the effects of climate change. (The design incorporated a polar bear on a shrunken ice floe.) A portion of the sales of Kala (pictured), also released in 2009, will fund a school in Bhadohi, India. The initiative is run through Care & Fair, an association of more than 450 companies working to combat illegal child labor in the rug-making industries of India, Pakistan, and Nepal.